British holiday home owners on Tenerife are facing huge fines for breaking a law that requires property owners to have a licence before renting out their properties to holiday makers.

The law was introduced in 1995 but has not been enforced for over a decade, so this has led to holiday rental owners to not bother to apply. However to authorities on the Canary Islands are now looking to enforce this law and are issuing fines to the owners of £15,000.

Many property owners are note even aware the fines have been issued and may find that their properties are sold to pay the fines.

Rita Emma Hernandez, the canary’s tourism chief says ‘The simple fact is there is a law in the Canary Islands which says you can’t rent your property out to tourists without prior authorisation. And those who seek this authorisation for their villas or apartments won’t get it right now.’

When I myself was looking for a property on Tenerife in 2003, only one estate agent even informed me that this law existed and made it clear at the time that renting out the apartment without a licence was illegal. All the other estate agents never mentioned it, even though they were aware that I was intending to rent the property out.